Outcomes from the 2026 Census topic review released
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will make changes to questions for 10 existing topics in the 2026 Census. These changes and one new topic will proceed to a large-scale test later this year.
Georgia Chapman, Director 2026 Census Content said, “the Census provides some of Australia’s most valuable statistics, and it’s important that it reflects our contemporary society and captures emerging data needs.
“We considered over 1,000 pieces of feedback during public consultation and have tested extensively with a wide range of Australians.
“We will use a large-scale test during the second half of 2025 to ensure the final questions achieve the best possible outcomes.”
The ABS wishes to acknowledge and thank everyone who provided feedback in the review and participated in question testing.
Further information can be found in outcomes of the 2026 Census topic review.
For media reference: Changes to content for the 2026 Census(a)
| Theme | Topic | Changes for 2026 Census(b) |
| Cultural diversity | Ancestry | Increase the number of ancestries collected from two to four to better reflect cultural diversity. |
| Country of birth of parents | Update the question design to be more inclusive.(c) | |
| Religious affiliation | Change the instructional text to support accurate data collection and reflect changes to the classification. The question wording and a pick list will be used for the 2026 Census as they were for the 2021 Census. | |
| Health | Long-term health conditions | Include ‘liver disease’ to collect a wider range of long-term health conditions. |
| Household and families | Household and family relationships | Introduce non-gendered terms to be more inclusive. |
| Persons temporarily absent on Census night | Update the question on sex to collect ‘sex recorded at birth’.(d) | |
| Income, work and service with the Australian Defence Force | Industry of employment | Update the question wording to improve alignment with the Labour Force Survey. |
| Labour force status | Update response categories to improve alignment with the Labour Force Survey. | |
| Population | Number of children ever born | Topic to return to a decennial collection and be removed from the 2026 Census.(e) |
| Sex | Update to the question wording to specifically collect ‘sex recorded at birth’ and update response categories to improve data quality.(d) | |
| Sexual orientation and gender | New topic to be collected for people aged 16 years and over.(e) | |
| Transport | Mode of travel to work | Update response categories to include ‘Bicycle (including e-bike)’ to include more contemporary modes of travel. |
- Excludes changes to ordering and sequencing of questions, and minor changes that occur every Census to instructional or explanatory text for existing questions on the form (including the supplementary questions on the online form that are used to improve coding of Industry and Occupation topics).
- Further information on changes considered, including feedback received through the phase one and two consultations, is available in 2026 Census topic review: Phase one directions and 2026 Census topic review: Phase two directions.
- Variations in the question design will be required between the paper and web-based forms due to the functionality available in the online form but not on the paper form.
- Changes to the question on sex, to collect 'sex recorded at birth', are required to differentiate it from the separate question on gender. The ABS will determine the question design on sex once the process to amend the Census and Statistics Regulation 2016, to include the topic of sexual orientation and gender, is complete.
- The ABS will implement this topic change once the process to amend the Census and Statistics Regulation 2016 is complete.
Media notes
- For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team via media@abs.gov.au (9am-5pm Mon-Fri).
- Further information on 2026 Census topic review is available on the ABS website
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